An interventional study of Youth-Nominated Support Team for Probation in Suicidal Ideation and Behavior, sponsored by Columbia University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 12 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-31.
Sponsored by Columbia University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The goal of this study is to conduct a pilot test of a mental health support program called the Youth-Nominated Support Team - Probation (YST-P) for young people ages 12-17 on probation, experiencing suicidal ideation and behaviors (SIB). Young people on probation experience SIB at higher rates than youth in the general population, but often do not receive the mental health care they need due to multi-level barriers. YST-P is adapted from an existing evidence-based, social support intervention, Youth-Nominated Support Team (YST), which is a psychoeducational, social support intervention originally created as an adjunctive to standard behavioral health (BH) treatment for youth with suicide risk following psychiatric hospitalization. YST-P is an adaptation of YST designed to meet the unique needs of youth on probation, addressing their SIB and increasing their uptake of treatment, by leveraging their existing social networks. YST-P is designed as an early intervention program to prevent escalation of SIB and increase probation youths' treatment uptake, bridging them to care. The study entails a single-arm pilot to examine reductions in SIB (within-subject comparison), and increased treatment uptake (comparing YST-P participants to a propensity-matched, historical control). This study will additionally explore theorized mechanisms of intervention action as well as implementation outcomes and barriers/facilitators to YST-P. The goal is for results from this study to inform a larger, fully powered effectiveness trial, as well as future studies leveraging youths' existing social support networks to prevent SIB and bridge them to care.
The goal of YST-P is to improve youths' SIB and their uptake of behavioral health (BH) services (defined as intake +1 session), examining multilevel inner/outer context and bridging factors that influence implementation of YST-P. The proposed hybrid (Type I) effectiveness-implementation study will occur in two counties on Long Island in New York State: Suffolk County and Nassau County. Guided by Heaney and Israel's Social Support for Health (SSH) framework, Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), and the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework, the larger project comprises three phases:
Phase 1: formative qualitative work with key stakeholders.
Phase 2: adaptation (informed by formative work) of existing YST protocols and materials to create YST-P through stakeholder consultant workgroups.
Phase 3 (clinical trial): single-arm YST-P pilot trial, implemented at a community-based BH agency, to examine preliminary evidence of (a) reductions in SIB (within-subject comparison in sample of N=40 YST-P participants), (b) increased treatment uptake (comparing YST-P participants to a propensity matched, historical control, with uptake defined as intake +1 session), exploring theory-driven mediators/moderators (e.g., youth personal factors/coping resources; family environment and resources) on SIB and treatment uptake.
The investigators will additionally examine YST-P implementation outcomes and elucidate multi-level inner/outer context and bridging factors, to inform a larger study. During the clinical trial, investigators will collect quantitative (surveys and structured interviews) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data from youth/caregivers, supportive adults, probation staff, and Intervention Specialists at multiple timepoints across the implementation period. Investigators will also collect administrative records data on all youth endorsing suicidal ideation at probation intake, beginning one year prior to YST-P implementation (historical control) and continuing throughout the intervention period.
569 studies on the registry are indexed under Suicidal Ideation; 203 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 137 is above the median of 80 across 469 interventional studies indexed under Suicidal Ideation.
Browse Suicidal Ideation studies →Columbia University is the lead sponsor of 1,136 studies on the registry; 195 are open to participants now.
Of its 180 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 148 (82%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
YST-P Pilot Youth on probation, referred to study by YST Intervention Specialist (n=40)
Caregivers, referred to study by YST Intervention Specialist (n=40)
Supportive adults, referred to study by YST Intervention Specialist (n=40)
Probation staff, assisted by agency leadership (n=15)
Intervention Specialists, assisted by agency leadership (n=2)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Participants not meeting all inclusion criteria will be excluded from research activities.
Youth with an active probation case with reported past year suicidal ideation who receive the YST-P intervention (n=40).
Behavioral: Youth-Nominated Support Team for Probation
YST-P is a social support intervention to leverage youths' existing relationships as an approach to decrease SIB and address multilevel barriers to care for youth on probation.
Youth Suicide Ideation and Behaviors
Youth suicide ideation and behaviors will be calculated using the GAIN Short Screener (GAIN-SS) ver. 3.0.2. The GAIN-SS is scored on five items, each ranging from 0 to 4, where 0 = never and 4 = problems reported in the past month. Lower scores indicate better outcomes.
Time frame: Assessed at baseline, at completion of the 3-month intervention, and also 6-month post-baseline
Youth treatment uptake
Youth treatment uptake will be defined as completing intake plus one additional session of behavioral health treatment.
Time frame: Up to 14 months
Plan to share: Undecided
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.